Friday, August 28, 2015

So I'm gettin' outta my car just outside my beautiful new home and
this puffed-up 4"x6" piece of green plastic starts
blowing down the driveway headed for the yard. It lands a yard past
my feet and I go to pick it up and of course a wind gust lofts it
once again and deposits another three feet away- a dynamic that
repeats itself twice before I finally stomp on it and it goes "POP,"
as does my back.

I bend down anyway now that I've slain the Jabberwock and pick it
up. And all it says on it, in big. black. bold letters, is
"GREENEARTH" with "100% recycled material" in
tiny letters below it.

I'm getting too old for this. Irony stopped existing decades ago-
around the same time people's misuse of the term became ironic.
Everything is ironic these days to the point where irony can only be
found in the most sincere, mundane circumstance.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

There are two important measures on the Kaua`i County Council
agenda this Wednesday. One bill, up for final approval, would repeal
in its entirety the "incessantly barking dogs" ordinance
passed last year after decades of debate. Even though every
councilmember agreed that what if anything it really needs is
amending, it appears fated for repeal.

The other is a resolution, up for a final vote, that would ask
voters if they want to repeal the Kaua`i County Charter provision for
term limits for councilmembers, which passed in a landslide in 2006.

Both are the brain-children of Councilmember Ross Kagawa and
during the hours of council and public debate he dominated the
discussions of incessant barks, making viewing as painful as any
incising bites.

The law is apparently working well despite what can only be
described as Ross' always torturous and sometimes tortuous attempts
to misrepresent both the facts and the underlying issue.

According to testimony, including that of the Kaua`i Police
Department (KPD), the Prosecuting Attorney (PA) and the Kaua`i Humane
Society (KHS)- the latter of which handles the complaints- of 76
original cases filed with KHS since the law was passed last year all
but eight have been resolved. almost all by getting dog owners to
stop the barking. They all agreed that this has been because the law
established "consequences" if owners of incessantly barking
dogs do not make use of educational materials provided by the KHS.

None of the cases were linked to any abuse of the dogs, according
to KHS.

Although Kagawa repeatedly tried to establish that "100%"
of the cases that were adjudicated were found "not guilty."
first off that number was exactly TWO- count 'em- TWO. Secondly
Kagawa was adamant about not including a third dog-owner that plead
"no contest," a plea that is "treated the same as
guilty in the eyes of the law."

Five cases are still in the prosecutor's office awaiting
processing.

When Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura and Gary Hooser brought this
third case to his attention, Kagawa, at times doing his best Steve
McGarrett cum Colombo impression, at others apparently portraying
some sort of comical, tongue-tied, Bizarro-World Perry Mason,
resorted to attempting to divine a reason for that no contest plea.
He then simply discarded the case because no one could say exactly
why the dog-owner had plead
guilty (including the Prosecuting Attorney himself which Kagawa
decided was occasion to verbally "spike the ball"),
apparently rejecting the theory that it was because he actually might
have been guilty.

Hooser said his operating theory of lawmaking, based on almost two
decades as a legislator, including a stint as state Senate Majority
Leader, is that the intent of passing a law is not to fine or even
jail people. Rather, it's to discourage people from certain
behaviors, likening it to establishing a speed limit to slow people
down, not as a cash cow.

From the testimony, apparently Ross and the three other members of
Council Chair Mel Rapozo's "Tea Party" faction either don't
get that or are simply playing politics because they all voted for
repeal when the bill passed out of committee almost two weeks ago.

Wednesday's council meeting beings at 8:45 a.m. and will be
live-streamed on-line. Bills and Resolutions are generally taken up
toward the end of meetings although there is no guarentee that that
will be the case.

Hooser has posted a message on Facebook saying:

"I encourage Kauai residents to let all Councilmembers know
how you feel about these two issues - repealing the barking dog
ordinance and repealing term limits. PLEASE SEND IN YOUR TESTIMONY
TODAY TO counciltestimony@kauai.gov, before Wednesday August 5,
especially on the proposed repeal of Kauai's barking dog ordinance
which is scheduled for a final vote that day. I share the concerns
expressed by The Garden Island Newspaper and will be voting against
both proposals. Both proposals have been introduced by Councilmember
Kagawa and I respect his right to promote his values but disagree
strongly with him on the these two issues."

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Star-Advertiser's Hurley Calls It "Setback For Opponents Of
Mountaintop Telescope Development" But No TMT Personnel Or
Trucks Were There.

by Andy Parx

(PNN- Parx News Net) In a
somewhat bizarre display of a combination of sycophancy and laziness
some corporate media called the arrests and citation of "Protectors
of Mauna a Wakea " (Mauna Kea) early Friday morning "a
setback for opponents of mountaintop telescope development,"
despite the fact that nothing else took place.

After being banned by DLNR from coverage, members of the corporate
media- especially Honolulu Star Bulletin reporter Timothy Hurley-
apparently did not even witness the arrests and seemingly just
reported
(paywall) what he was told by the Division of Conservation And
Resource Enforcement (DOCARE).

Hurley's characterization of the arrests as a "setback for
opponents" came despite the fact that there were no trucks or
attempts at any actions related to development of the proposed
"Thirty Meter Telescope " (TMT).

Na`au News Now, an alternative news outlet organized on behalf of
the presence of the "Protectors" on the sacred mountain,
reported
in a Facebook video Thursday from the mountain, interviewing
kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiians) cultural and religious practitioners
who said that they expected arrests and citations as soon as that
night and were prepared.

Thursday afternoon PNN had reported
that "(DLNR spokesperson Dan) Dennison said the state has also
decided to restrict the media’s access during any enforcement
action. The decision, he said, was made in part because of the
difficult logistics of carrying out a mission late at night,"
via a statement buried at the end of a Star-Advertiser. article
that day.

Instead DOCARE took their own video and apparently handed it out
to corporate television and print news outlets such as one broadcast
on KHON, Ch 2

Although Hawai`i News Now (HNN) used Hurley's language in an
early report, reporter Jim Mendoza later filed a report
using a "MAUNA KEA, HAWAII" dateline, describing the
arrests at the 9,000 ft level (by the visitor center) that left
ambiguous whether he actually had visited and witnessed what happened
at the arrest site or just saw the DOCARE video.

PARX NEWS DAILY/got windmills? is written and published by Andy Parx. Non-commercial use is unrestricted. Commercial reproduction by arrangement. All materials copyright 2008-2015. Contact: gotwindmills(at)gmail.com

LOOKING FOR MORE PARX NEWS DAILY?

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

We'll still be posting the occasional, more "formal," piece here but we've found that everything doesn't need to be 800 words long and have a beginning, middle and end. Sometime a few paragraphs and a link or two is all you need (yes, okay... love too).

So for multiple (usually) daily news and commentary posts, "follow" or send a "friend" request to Andy Parx at FB. Or you can go directly to our page.

We find FB much less of a "writer-reader" format and more of a communication platform that's more conducive to conversation and being able to share information back and forth with others.

Facebook is only what each persons makes it. Some people want to tell their "friends" what they ate for lunch. Others want to share and discuss the issues of the day and make it a tool that connects people for purposes of advocacy and activism. Go figgah.

Are "smart meters" really a health hazard? We look at the actual science, separating the facts from the half-baked conspiracy theories and delusional conjecture. Get a reality check by reading METERING MR. SMARTY PANTS.

Moloa`a Water Theft- A continuing PNN Investigative series

It’s not Chinatown Jake, but it’s close.

About 10 years ago “someone” dammed up Moloa`a stream and re-built the long-defunct and dilapidated Moloa`a Ditch, diverting almost all the water that serves Moloa`a Valley through three tunnels that lead to Ka Loko Ditch.

From there the water flows into a system of underground pipes that serves Jimmy Pflueger’s properties in the Pila`a/Waiakalua/Wailapa area and with the excess dumped into the Ka Loko Reservoir which gave way killing seven people in 2006

PNN Investigative Reports

The Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE) is not just the most powerful but arguably the most politically corrupted, self-serving, and interest-conflicted board or commission (B’s and C’s) in the county.

Their BOE’s role in the politically motivated pogrom resulting in the purge of Police Chief KC Lum and Police Commission Chair Mike Ching is well documented in Tony Sommer’s book “KPD Blue” (serialized below).

But in the intervening three years not much has changed and indeed it has only gotten worse with BOE decisions that fly in the face of all ethical standards, all logic and in fact the plain reading of the county charter which prohibits those serving on B’s and C’s from “appearing on behalf of private interests” before their or any county B’s and C’s.

Read how three individuals- Chairs Mark Hubbard and Lei Fuller and Secretary Judith Lenthall- have used their power in a quest to violate ethics laws and how their lawless rulings have resulted in a free pass to corruption for everyone else in the revolving-door of county service and employ.

Click here for all of our continuing coverage of the Kaua`i Board of Ethics

---------

From the archives...

Toxic waste dump "discovered" at KE’s `Ele`ele power plant.

Almost seven years ago, on July 17, 2002, Parx News Net (PNN) published an investigative report exposing an underground toxic waste dump- a 40 foot deep lake of petroleum products laced with heavy metals according to a consultant’s report- underneath what was then Kaua`i Electric’s `Ele`ele power plant.Despite the report, the sale of Kaua`i Eclectic (KE) to the Kaua`i Island Utility Co-op (KIUC) went forward with all liabilities transferred to the co-op members.

The mess and the potential cost of cleanup was not, from all reports at the time, considered in determining the sale price.The report was published in anticipation of the impending sale. Following the report is a reply from the KE environmental consultant followed by our reply to their letter, to which neither they nor KE nor KIUC has ever responded.

KPD detectives transported the women back to KPD headquarters, took one into the watch sergeant’s office and closed the door.

Then they took off her clothes and fondled and photographed her.

Police supervisors looked the other way.

And that was just the beginning….

If you think banana republics, crooked cops, corrupt politicians and unethical government bureaucrats exist only in the Third World, welcome to Kauai: 100 miles west of and 100 years behind the rest of the United States.

KPD BLUE may be the only book about Kauai that contains no pretty pictures.

ANTHONY SOMMER is a veteran of almost four decades as a reporter for major metropolitan daily newspapers and covered Kauai for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.